1 Peter 2:25

For ye were going astray like sheep; but are now returned unto the Shepherd and Bishop of your souls.

The two titles, Shepherd and Bishop, are here applied to the Lord Jesus Christ. One can only marvel that a scholar like Barclay would ascribe these titles as being referred here to God. He said, "These are two precious names for God."[54] Jesus himself said, "I am the good shepherd" (John 10:14), appropriating the title in such a manner as to affirm his Godhead, without giving the Pharisees any excuse for charging him with sedition. Furthermore, no other title of Jesus our Lord ever so completely captured the hearts and imaginations of the primitive church in exactly the same manner as did this one:

There is no symbol upon which the early church seems to have dwelt with more delight than that of Christ as the Good Shepherd, bringing home to the fold the lost sheep. It was engraved on gems; it furnished the legends of seals; it gives today an almost fabulous value to fragments of broken glass; it was painted upon the chalice of the Holy Communion; and it was carved upon the tombs of the martyrs in the catacombs![55]

There can really, therefore, be no other way of understanding these two magnificent titles than as being ascribed here to the blessed Saviour.

Bishop ... This word has none of the ecclesiastical overtones that afterward became associated with the word, indicating a date around the middle of the first century, and denying the success of those who have vainly attempted to remove 1Peter from its rightful historical place.

One of the truly great things in these remarkable last five verses of the chapter is the correspondence of the whole paragraph with the Suffering Servant portion of Isaiah. We are indebted to Hunter for this analysis of it."[56]

<MONO><SIZE=2> 1 Peter 2 Isaiah 53

1 Peter 2:21, Christ suffered Isaiah 53:4, He bears our sins. for us.

1 Peter 2:22, He did no sin, Isaiah 53:9, He did no sin, nor neither was guile found in his was guile in his mouth. mouth.

1 Peter 2:23, When reviled, he Isaiah 53:7, He opened not his reviled not again. mouth.

1 Peter 2:24a, Who his own self Isaiah 53:12, He bare the sins bare our sins, etc. of many.

1 Peter 2:24b, By whose stripes Isaiah 53:5, By his stripes were we are healed. we healed.

1 Peter 2:25, For ye were as Isaiah 53:6. All we like sheep sheep going astray. have gone astray.MONO>

Note 1. In 1 Peter 2:24, Peter mentioned the fact of Christians "having died unto sins"; and there are a number of things which are included in the meaning: (1) There is preeminently the fact that Christ paid for us the penalty of death, which was due; and, the penalty having already been paid, it is legally true that all Christians are dead to sin. Although his words here do not seem to be stressing this aspect of it, the whole context of the passage with its emphasis upon what Christ has done for us allows this meaning to come through. (2) Christians are also dead to sin as far as their purpose is concerned. The first impulse of the regenerated heart is the resolution to live above sin. Therefore, as regards the purpose of Christians toward sin, they are dead to sins. (3) As Macknight pointed out, from the viewpoint of the pagan world in which they lived, and in large measure the viewpoint of our own age, Christians are not available for the practice of sensuality, immorality and drunkenness expected of them in the secular society; and as far as that godless society is concerned, they are dead, being, to all practical purposes, dead to the popular practice of evil. (4) One thing that is not meant is any implication that Christians are no longer tempted by sin. Even Christ was tempted; and there is no state of sanctification or holiness which may be attained by a child of God that can free him from the temptations to which all flesh is heir.

[54] William Barclay, op. cit., p. 215.

[55] W. A. Snively, Biblical Illustrator, 1Peter (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Baker Book House, 1938), p. 242.

[56] Archibald M. Hunter, op. cit., p. 118.